This application claims benefit of Japanese Application No. 2002-106888 filed in Japan on Apr. 9, 2002, No. 2002-119307 filed in Japan on Apr. 22, 2002, No. 2002-106900 filed in Japan on Apr. 9, 2002, and No. 2002-169004 filed in Japan on Jun. 10, 2002, the contents of which are incorporated by this reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera exterior part comprising an exterior member made of a metal and an inner frame member made of a resin, the inner frame member being arranged on the inner surface of the exterior member, a manufacturing method thereof; and a camera having an exterior member made of a conductive material such as a metal, and more particularly to a camera in which electric noises can be supplied to a ground pattern of an electric circuit, the noises coming from the outside through the internal mechanism of the camera; and a camera with a lens barrier which is movably arranged on the front surface of a camera body case and functions as a cover of a photographic lens.
2. Related Art Statement
Recently, some camera exterior parts each constituting a camera are constructed in such a manner that an exterior member of a camera body, for example, a front cover is made of a metal to add a high quality impression to the camera.
The camera exterior part having the above exterior member made of a metal is manufactured as follows: A front mold member, which serves as an inner frame member and is made of a resin, is attached to the inner surface of a front cover of the camera exterior part by adhesion, and a device arranged in the camera or a rear cover of the exterior member is attached to the front mold member. The front cover is formed using a press work technique. The front mold member is formed using a resin by an injection molding technique.
Recent some cameras are constructed in such a manner that a camera body is covered with an exterior member made of a metal in order to give the impression that the camera has a good appearance and a high grade impression on the users. In the case of using a metal as the exterior member, in order to prevent a short circuit between the exterior member and circuit parts or a circuit pattern arranged on a flexible board of the camera body, a part or the whole of the inner surface of the exterior member is subjected to an insulating process or an insulating sheet is adhered to the inner surface thereof.
For the above-mentioned cameras, since the exterior member has conductivity, the camera is charged (or discharged) due to static electricity. In addition, the exterior member functions as an antenna, so that the camera is apt to pick up noises from surroundings. In some cases, the noises cause a current, resulting in adverse effects on electric parts in the camera. Therefore, the exterior member is electrically connected to a ground pattern of an electric circuit of the camera so that the potential of the exterior member is reduced to a ground potential. If the camera picks up noises, a generated current flows through the ground pattern. Thus, the electric parts can be protected.
As a grounding method, for example, one end of a piece of elastic metal is fixed by a screw or the like to a camera body together with a lead wire. The lead wire is connected to the ground pattern of the electric circuit of the camera by soldering. When the exterior member is attached to the camera body, the other end of the metal piece is come into contact with the exposed inner metal surface of the exterior member while being pressed against the surface, thus resulting in electrical connection.
According to another method, a part of the inner metal surface of the exterior member is exposed and processed such that the exposed portion is partially superimposed on the ground pattern of a printed board of the camera body when the exterior member is attached to the camera body. Upon attachment, the superimposed portion and pattern are tightly fixed using screws, thus grounding the exterior member.
Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-15054 discloses a technique of realizing electrical connection between an exterior member and a contact on the negative electrode of a battery through a fixing member.
In conventional general cameras, a photographic lens, a finder, and various measurement windows are arranged on the front surface of each camera body. A lens barrier is freely slidably disposed on the front surface of a camera body case. The lens barrier covers the photographic lens, the finder, and the various measurement windows to protect them. Upon photographing, the lens barrier is slid, thus exposing the photographing lens, the finder, and the measurement windows.
As a camera with a lens barrier as mentioned above, for example, as shown in FIGS. 37 and 38, a lens barrier 1 molded using a resin is generally used. In the lens barrier 1 made of resin, almost semicylindrical guide nails la are formed in two portions on each of the surfaces of each of the both ends of the lens barrier 1. The guide nails la protrude on both the surfaces of each end at a predetermined distance from each other. The guide nails la are freely movably attached to a pair of guide rails 2a provided for a front mold member 2, which is made of a resin and constitutes a camera body case. Thus, the lens barrier 1 can be stably guided without being influenced by parallelism between the guide rails 2a and the ends of the lens barrier 1.
Recent some cameras include a metallic exterior serving as the exterior of a camera body case in order to present a high quality impression. For the cameras using such a metal plate, when a battier-attached camera is formed, it is desired that the lens barrier 1, freely slidably arranged on the front surface of the camera body case, is also formed using a metal plate.
For conventional barrier-attached cameras, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1-255839 discloses a camera having the following structure: When a lens barrel is projected, a barrier for protecting a lens is locked through a retaining lever at an open position at the front of a lens in order to prevent the interference between the lens barrel and the barrier. In this camera, the distal end portion of the retaining lever can be in contact with a part of a movable frame of the lens barrel when the lens barrel is projected (projected mode) or while the lens barrel is being projected.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-294991 discloses a barrier-attached camera. In this barrier-attached camera, a barrier includes a locking mechanism for protecting a lens barrel. The locking mechanism includes a locking member, a contact member, a gear transmission member, and the like. In this camera, in a state in which the lens barrel is located at a projected position where it is possible to photograph, when the barrier is moved in the closing direction, the distal end of the contact member slightly comes into contact with the lens barrel and the locking member comes into contact with a protrusion on a camera body. The locking member is in contact with the camera body, thus protecting the lens barrel against the operating force applied to the barrier.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera exterior part which simply and easily realizes high-accurate assembly with a simple arrangement.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a camera in which a conductive exterior member can be surely grounded with a simple arrangement.
Further another object of the present invention is to provide a camera with a lens barrier which simply and easily realizes high-quality manufacture without edge working.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a camera with a lens barrier for opening and closing the front surface of a lens barrel, the camera having a simple structure in which the operation of the lens barrier does not affect the projecting or retracting operation of the lens barrel.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a camera exterior part having an exterior member made of a metal and an inner frame member made of a resin, the inner frame member being integrally attached to the inner surface of the exterior member, the method including the steps of: forming the inner frame member using a resin by injection molding so as to have in one piece a reinforcing portion for preventing deformation; applying an adhesive to the inner surface of the metallic exterior member to fix the inner frame member having the reinforcing portion in one piece to the inner surface of the exterior member; and cutting and removing the reinforcing portion of the inner frame member after the completion of the fixing with the adhesive.
Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera exterior part including: an inner frame member which is formed so as to have a reinforcing portion for preventing deformation in one piece and which is formed using a resin by injection molding; and fixing means for applying an adhesive to the inner surface of the exterior member made of a metal, pushing the inner frame member having in one piece the reinforcing portion against the inner surface of the exterior member to integrally fix the inner frame member to the exterior member, wherein after the completion of the fixing by the fixing means, the reinforcing portion of the inner frame member is cut.
Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera exterior part including an exterior member made of a metal; and an inner frame member which is attached to the inner surface of the exterior member by adhesion, which has in one piece a reinforcing portion for preventing deformation, and which is formed using a resin by injection molding, the reinforcing portion being removed after the completion of the attachment.
Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera having a lens barrier which is movably disposed at the front of a camera body case made of a metal and which can be moved to a closed position, where the front surface of a photographic lens is covered, and to an open position, where the front surface of the photographic lens is exposed, the camera including; the lens barrier formed by working a metal plate; guide rails which are arranged in the camera body case and are in contact with the lens barrier to slidably guide the lens barrier; and protrusions formed on the surface of the lens barrier in the vicinity of the worked end faces of the lens barrier perpendicular to the surface thereof, the protrusions being in contact with the surfaces of the respective guide rails to slide the lens barrier.
Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera including; a lens barrier which is movable to a closed position, where the front surface of the photographic lens is covered, and to an open position, where the front surface of the photographic lens is exposed, the lens barrier being formed by working a metal plate and having protrusions on the surface thereof in the vicinity of the worked end faces, the protrusions protruding perpendicular to the surface of the lens barrier; and guide rails to which the protrusions of the lens barrier are slidably fitted in order to slidably guide the lens barrier to the closed position, where the photographic lens is covered, and to the open position, where the front surface of the photographic lens is exposed.
Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera including: a printed wiring board including a pattern portion having a ground potential; a conductive spring in which at least one end serves as an end turn; and a conductive member having conductivity at least on the surface which the other end of the spring is pressed against, wherein the spring holds an exposed portion of the pattern portion at the end turn and presses the other end thereof against the conductive member to realize electrical connection, thus reducing the potential of the conductive member to the ground potential.
Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera including a printed wiring board having a pattern portion in which a ground pattern is exposed; a conductive spring in which at least one end is tightly wound; an exterior member made of a metal; and a contact portion which is provided for the exterior member and is come into contact with the other end of the spring, wherein the spring holds the pattern portion with the tightly-wound end and the electrical connection between the printed wiring board and the exterior member is realized through the spring.
Further according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera including: a photographic lens barrel having a lens movement path between a photographable position and a non-photographable position where it is impossible to photograph; a barrier having a barrier movement path between a closed position, where the barrier covers the photographic lens barrel, and an open position, where the barrier is withdrawn from the front surface of the photographic lens barrel, the barrier movement path intersecting the lens movement path; and a locking member which is provided for a camera body, which is engaged with the barrier to inhibit the movement of the barrier when the barrier is moved from the open position to the closed position in a state in which the photographic lens barrel is located in the barrier movement path of the barrier, and which continues the engagement so that an operating force applied to the barrier in the closing direction does not affect the movement of the photographic lens barrel when the operating force is continuously applied to the barrier even in a state in which the photographic lens barrel is deviated from the barrier movement path of the barrier.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.